Prog Britannia - Album Reviews

KEN SENIOR      I was working in the lab late one night, When my eyes beheld an eerie sight.... It was none other than Ken Senior, one of the last great English eccentrics. Ken's a little bit different to the rest of us mere mortals, as you'll see in the endearing video below, where he performs his own unique version of the Monster Mash for Halloween. It was a graveyard smash, originally recorded by Bobby 'Boris' Pickett & the Crypt Kickers way back in 1962. Sadly, Bobby 'Boris' Pickett is no longer with us, having passed away in 2007, but you can still listen to him from beyond the grave, so to speak.  

SOLSTICE     A band of tree-hugging neo-pagan proggers from the New Town of Milton Keynes in central England. Milton Keynes is a town-planner's dream-come-true, made famous (or notorious) for its concrete cows and seemingly endless traffic circles, which may or may not have inspired storyteller Jon 'Christian' Anderson's Roundabout. 

STRANGERS ON A TRAIN    It's that man again. Yes, keyboard wizard Clive Nolan is back with another amazing band to entertain and delight. Strangers on a Train also includes Tracy Hitchings (of Landmarq) and Karl Groom (of Threshold), so what more could you ask for in a Neo Prog band!?? The name of the band is a reference to the classic Hitchcock thriller of 1951, although I'm glad to say no one ends up getting murdered in the band, so there's no blood on the tracks. If it's Action, Suspense & Drama you're looking for though, "The Key" trilogy of rolling stock is running on full locomotive power and with Clive Nolan involved, you can bet your bottom dollar there are no passengers on this train. The "trilogy" has the unusual distinction of being only two albums. A third album was planned and may still arrive at the station some time in the future - which will surely be a long train a-running - but sadly, it won't include Tracy Hitchings. 

TAMARISK     The tamarisk is an ancient African tree mentioned in the Bible, representing hope and life and symbolizing new beginnings. The tamarisk tree is also noted for its ability to survive in harsh conditions and  is a symbol of strength and resilience, just like Tamarisk the band, who survived the first wave of British Neo Prog in the early 1980's and made a remarkable comeback forty years later with a new album, titled "Suspended Animation", appropriately enough. Their 2012 album, "Frozen in Time" is just what it says on the label too, a compilation harking back to Tamarisk's nascent beginnings in the early 1980's. Tamarisk aren't afraid to risk political controversy either, as their song "Total Coverage (The Battle of Bean Field)" details the events surrounding the massive clash between the police and New Age travellers at the ancient monument of Stonehenge in Wiltshire in the summer of 1985, which still remains shrouded in controversy to this day. In fact, it's one of the most shocking events in British political history since we first discovered that Lib-Dem leader Paddy Pantsdown had had an extra-marital affair!  

THIRD QUADRANT     A multi-layered Neo Prog foursome with many stories to tell. It'd be a crime to skip them, just like crime in multi-storey car parks, which is wrong on so many different levels. 

THIS WINTER MACHINE     There's no need to wrap up warm as This Winter Machine will warm the cockles of your heart and leave you flying high as a Kite. 

It's cold comfort for the Top Gear team though...

TIME COLLIDER     If you've got the time, then they've got the music. Time Collider are loud and they're proud and they're on a collision course and taking no prisoners, so light the blue touch paper, stand well back and watch the fireworks as this fine band are ready to set the world alight. Then again, they could fizzle out like a damp squib. Will there be a second album? Only time will tell. Sorry, I know that's a tired old cliche, but on a level playing field, it can't always be avoided at the end of the day, but all's well that ends well. 

The album cover of the Tr3nity record looks like one of those early 3D tech demos.

It didn't age well.

TWELFTH NIGHT     "If music be the food of love, then play on." - Duke Orsino in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, which later provided the inspiration for a Fleetwood Mac album. Separating Fact and Fiction now, it's a fact that Twelfth Night were one of the first Neo Prog bands with their first Live album recorded back in February 1981, which must have been A Night to Remember. They also released two studio albums in 1982 which preceded Marillion's first album by a whole year. Twelfth Night are masters of Art & Illusion with their masterpiece Sequences album destined to become a treasured Collectors Item.